Cato Hernández
scours through tons of archives to understand how our region became the way it is today.
Published July 25, 2024 9:13 AM
A section of the Great Wall of Los Angeles mural, designed by muralist Judy Baca, that showcases pivotal moments in California history.
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Ashley Balderrama
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Topline:
One of the largest murals in the world is here in Southern California, stretching for half a mile along the L.A. River in North Hollywood. It’s known as the Great Wall of L.A. and it was painted by artist Judy Baca decades ago, but work has been underway to expand it.
What’s the mural? The Great Wall of L.A. depicts scenes of California, from prehistoric times to the 1950s. The mural focuses largely on civil rights uprisings.
What’s getting added? For nine months, Baca and her team have been at LACMA painting more recent historic scenes in a live exhibit, like the East L.A. walkouts and the Watts uprising. There are more sections in the works, too, like Woodstock and a section on Jim Crow laws.
Where can I see more? Her time at LACMA has now finished, but you can read on to see what the additions look like now. Baca and her team will continue painting the expansion at the Bergamot Station Art Center in Santa Monica starting Aug. 2.
In the Resnick Pavilion, visitors could watch as painters placed thousands of acrylic brush strokes on a huge roll of unwoven fabric. Baca said the studio-style process took her out of her element.
“I must say that I was very skeptical about painting in a white box,” Baca told the crowd at a recent press event. “I don’t paint in white boxes. I paint in rivers and I paint on freeways. I paint in places where it’s dangerous.”
The entrance to the exhibit at LACMA featuring live painting of new sections to be added to the Great Wall of Los Angeles.
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Ashley Balderrama
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Muralist Judy Baca, the visionary behind the Great Wall of Los Angeles.
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But this was a different kind of artistic danger, she said, because people could directly question the artists about the scenes being painted. The work included scenes from the Chicano movement, the Watts Renaissance and LGBTQ+ rights protests, ultimately covering 190 feet of additions.
The team’s time at LACMA ended on July 21, but the expansion is far from over. They’ll continue painting at the Bergamot Station Art Center starting Aug. 2, with a view to adding historic moments from around the 1970s, including Jimi Hendrix scenes and Woodstock.
“That will prove to be as interesting, and maybe a little even more controversial,” Baca said.
She expects to add another 200 feet of art in this phase, finishing in 2027 (in time for the Olympics). While the painting continues, here’s a look at what’s been added.
Chicano history
A section of the Great Wall of Los Angeles mural, designed by muralist Judy Baca, that shows labor leaders in front of grape fields.
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Dolores Huerta's megaphone, with "Huelga" (strike) added to it.
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The first section covers significant moments in the Chicano Movement.
It starts off with a depiction of major labor leaders in the Central Valley, including Phillip Vera Cruz, César Chávez, Dolores Huerta with her megaphone and poet-boxer Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales — influential figures in the farmworker rights movement.
Gonzales is shown penning his famous poem Yo Soy Joaquin, which speaks of the struggles Chicano people have faced with economic justice and equal rights.
“I think I was a young girl when I heard it the first time, and I went, ‘oh my god, Yo Soy Joaquin,’” Baca recalled. “Does that mean that brown is beautiful the way Black is beautiful? It changed my sense about who I was.”
Born in Watts in 1946 to Mexican American parents, Baca counts her grandmother’s Indigenous culture as a big influence on her Chicana identity.
The artists' depiction of the El Teatro Campesino performers wearing pig masks.
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The leaders loom in front of grape fields, calling back to the 1965 Delano Grape Strike, consumer boycott and union fight to secure higher wages for farmworkers. A yellow plane flies behind them to represent the dropping of the pesticides into the fields. The origins of Chicano playwright Luis Valdez’s theater company, El Teatro Campesino, is also shown as people don pig masks in preparation to perform the skits on flatbed trucks that encouraged farmworkers to join the picket line.
The colorful green hills in the background then turn brown, the backdrop for a Southern California scene.
It’s the East L.A. Walkouts of 1968, as students come out of their classrooms to protest prejudice in the education system, urging for Chicano history to be taught in schools.
Police are painted arresting people, including young girls with brown berets — a moniker of the Chicano group modeled after the Black Panthers — to reflect women’s contributions to the movement.
The segment on the East L.A. Walkouts of 1968.
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Black power
The Watts Uprising of 1965 is the next scene you’re transported to as public outcry followed the traffic stop of Marquette and Ronald Frye that turned violent. An alley is engulfed in flames as police fight with the brothers and their mother.
Baca and her team used creative freedom here because they depict the brothers’ mother, Rena Frye, as protecting her sons from inside the car. In reality, Rena was outside before punches were thrown, having come over to claim the vehicle when her son failed a sobriety test. While opinions are mixed on why that fight began, the artists’ take has resonated with people who remember how the rebellion felt.
“As you might think, you don’t push somebody's mother if you don't want a riot,” Baca said of the rebellion that followed. “People have said to us this just looks the way it was in Watts at that time.”
A scene that represents the Watts Uprising of 1965 and the traffic stop of Marquette and Ronald Frye.
Further down the painted fabric shows the art and community-led work that came out of the rubble from that time.
A young Richard Wyatt is shown painting a portrait of Cecil Ferguson, who was widely credited with fostering art communities in L.A. The inclusion of the two evokes the future, as among his artworks, Wyatt painted a mural of Ferguson on a wall at the Watts Towers Arts Center in the 80s.
Opposite of the Watts Towers, a trio of ferocious black panthers signify the community’s power during this time. Two women are painted with groceries from the Black Panther Party’s free food program, as children eat and read books about colonization.
The scene closes with an outside view of the Black Panther Party’s L.A. headquarters and the large LAPD tank that showed up during the 1969 SWAT raid on the location.
Other scenes
Muralist Judy Baca standing in front of the Mexican living room section of the Great Wall of Los Angeles.
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The TV ofrenda in the living room.
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As the expansion continues, you get placed into a Mexican living room, in a merging of politics and culture.
An old box TV is used as an ofrenda as portraits of both conventional and revolutionary political figures hang above: John F. Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King. Baca’s uncle Jesus “Chewy” Baca and his family are pictured on the ledge.
“What very often happened in people’s families living rooms were people taking photographs of people who were lost during this period of the 60s,” Baca said. “So we painted them like newspaper images.”
The artists' portrayal of the Cooper Do-nuts pushback.
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Two lesbians shown in the first L.A. Pride parade.
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The painted mural ends with a nod to LGBTQ+ rights.
“As the story was told, they started slinging donuts at the cops,” Baca said. “That really captured our imagination. We have never seen a photograph of this image, but we think we got the idea.”
The Black Cat, Barney’s Beanery and their old slur sign, and the first gay pride parade are also depicted. Lesbians on motorcycles ride down Hollywood Boulevard in a scene that’s become a staple of the parade in the years since.
As for what Baca wants Angelenos to take away from this walk down history lane, she says:
“It’s a massive education project. It’s meant to tell people the stories of the struggles for civil rights and what people went through to make that happen.”
Exterior of the SAG-AFTRA Labor union building on Wilshire boulevard in Los Angeles, CA.
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iStock Editorial
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Topline:
SAG-AFTRA, the union representing Hollywood actors, reached a tentative agreement with major studios yesterday Saturday on a new contract covering films, scripted TV dramas, and streaming content.
Why it matters: The tentative agreement still needs to be approved by the SAG-AFTRA National Board, which the union says will meet in the coming days to review the terms. Details of the new contract won’t be released before then.
The backstory: The actors'union began negotiating with Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) in February. In 2023, actors went on a four-month strike along with Hollywood writers after negotiations for their respective contracts fell through. In late April, the Writers Guild of America approved their new labor contract.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced several significant rule changes for the 99th Oscars, including AI protections for actors and writers as well as expanded eligibility for international films.
Details: Among the most noteworthy changes, the Academy now explicitly states that only roles, "demonstrably performed by humans with their consent" are eligible for Acting awards. In other words, AI creations like the much-hyped Tilly Norwood cannot hope to win a Best Actress Oscar anytime soon.
Why now: In a statement to NPR, the Academy on Saturday said the changes are in response to listening to the global filmmaking community and addressing barriers to entry in its eligibility process.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced several significant rule changes for the 99th Oscars, including AI protections for actors and writers as well as expanded eligibility for international films.
In a statement to NPR, the Academy on Saturday said the changes are in response to listening to the global filmmaking community and addressing barriers to entry in its eligibility process.
The Academy added that its rules and eligibility standards have always evolved alongside technologies such as sound, color, and CGI, and that AI is no different. Awards rules and guidelines are reviewed and refined each year.
A blow for Tilly Norwood
Among the most noteworthy changes, the Academy now explicitly states that only roles, "demonstrably performed by humans with their consent" are eligible for Acting awards. In other words, AI creations like the much-hyped Tilly Norwood cannot hope to win a Best Actress Oscar anytime soon.
Particle6, the production company behind Norwood, did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment on Saturday about its creations' ban from consideration. In March, Norwood commented, "Can't wait to go to the Oscars!" in an Instagram post announcing its newly released music video.
The Academy also requires screenplays to be "human-authored" and said it reserved the right to investigate the use of generative AI in any submission.
Meanwhile, qualifying flesh-and-blood human actors can now be nominated for multiple performances in the same category if those performances get enough votes to land in the top five. So, someone like Anne Hathaway, who has five major movies scheduled for release in 2026, could now theoretically sweep the nominations – though that outcome seems extremely unlikely.
"If an actor has an extremely prolific year, might we even see someone swallow up three of the five nominations?," wrote Deadline's awards columnist and chief film critic Pete Hammond about the changes. "Probably won't happen, but it's now possible."
Under previous rules, an actor could only receive one nomination per category. If they had two high-ranking performances in Best Actor, for example, only the one with the most votes would move forward.
International films prioritizes filmmakers over countries
While international films can still be the official selection of their countries, now they can qualify by winning the top prize at a major international festival such as the Palme d'Or at Cannes, the Golden Lion at Venice, or the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.
Historically, countries "owned" the nomination, and only one film per country was allowed. The new rules allow multiple films from the same country to compete if they are critically acclaimed, and it shifts the honor from a geopolitical entity to the filmmakers themselves.
Largely positive response
The changes have prompted a largely positive reaction from the film community on social media, such as on the popular The Shade Room entertainment and celebrity-focused Instagram feed, where commenters widely praised the "human-only" move to protect creative jobs.
The Academy's Awards Committee oversees the rules in tandem with branch executive committees, the International Feature Film Executive Committee and the Scientific and Technical Awards Executive Committee.
The rules are scheduled to go into effect next year, covering films released in 2026.
Copyright 2026 NPR
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Robert Garrova
explores the weird and secret bits of SoCal that would excite even the most jaded Angelenos. He also covers mental health.
Published May 3, 2026 5:00 AM
The main structure of the Verdugo Lodge.
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Kadletz Family Archives
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Topline:
Even in rapidly changing and often paved over L.A., there are still places where you can find ruins that tell a tale. Take the Verdugo Lodge: a long-forgotten speakeasy for old Hollywood near La Crescenta.
The background: According to Mike Lawler of the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley, the timeline isn’t perfectly clear, but some of the compound was built in the 1920s. It was set up kind of like a timeshare where people bought 10 x 10 foot "tent lots" that gave them access to on-site amenities. There was a golf course, stables, trout stream, a swimming pool... and a lodge with gambling and alcohol.
From speakeasy to 'Mountain Oaks': Sometime around the early 1930s, the tawdry Verdugo Lodge and the surrounding land were purchased and then renamed Mountain Oaks by the Kadletzes — an entrepreneurial family who had run everything from a Turkish bath to a mini golf course. Over the next few decades, the family would rent the place out to local groups for recreational retreats.
Los Angeles changes fast, and oftentimes that means some of the architectural relics of our shared past get swept up and paved over in all the "progress." (RIP Garden of Allah.)
But there are still places where you can find ruins that tell a tale, like a long-forgotten speakeasy reputedly for old Hollywood near La Crescenta.
The ruins are still there
On a recent afternoon, author and local historian Mike Lawler led me just beyond the boundary of Crescenta Valley Park. Joggers like me might have seen an old, towering stone arch shrouded by bushes there — and wondered what lies beyond.
Turns out there was once a place called the Verdugo Lodge back there and Lawler has spent years excavating its history.
A car speeds away from the lodge onto New York Avenue. The stone archway that still stands can be seen in the background.
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“It was a very high-end speakeasy for a time,” Lawler, who also helps run the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley, said. “An amazing thing. And all the ruins are still here, just like this arch.”
Lawler said we don’t know exactly when the lodge was built, but we do have some of the picture starting in the late 1920s. The place was set up kind of like a timeshare where people bought 10 x 10 foot ‘tent lots’ that gave them access to on-site amenities. There was a golf course, stables, trout stream, a swimming pool — and a lodge with gambling and alcohol.
“The Crescenta Valley in the teens and '20s was a hotbed of moonshine, prostitution, all that stuff," Lawler said. "It was a quiet little community. But in all these canyons up here, stuff was going on. Illegal stuff!”
We don’t have a full guest list, but Lawler said it’s likely at least a few Hollywood types had gone up to the lodge to circumvent Prohibition era laws.
In some ways, it was kind of like the original glamping. Lawler said patrons probably weren’t doing much sleeping, though.
“They might have been unconscious!” he said with a chuckle.
Lawler led me to a road that swooped around a meadow. We passed by a massive swimming pool nestled into the hillside.
Once known as the “Crystal Pool,” it’s now empty and fenced off, with pitch black locker rooms below.
The exterior of the locker rooms for the old Crystal Pool.
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We continued our journey up the hill and eventually arrived at a cascading stone stairway.
And at the top, the big show: overgrown with orange monkey flowers and goliath agaves lies the foundation of the old Verdugo Lodge, with lofty stone fireplaces the only guardians keeping the surrounding oak trees at bay.
Lawler takes out a floorplan that one of the former owners drew up for him.
“This is what it was laid out like on the inside. So a dancehall, and band stand on that side... And then upstairs was the gambling,” Lawler said.
Lawler had in hand a copy of a Los Angeles Times article from 1933 he found. The headline reads: “Revelers Flee in Lodge Raid.”
“The police that raided it were here at 3 o'clock in the morning. And there were still 500 people here. And they said it was the classiest joint they had ever raided... Anyway, people were diving out of windows and everything,” Lawler explained.
In a ruin like this, covered with moss and overgrowth, the imagination can run wild, too.
The archway that still stands outside of what's now known as Mountain Oaks.
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Lawler pointed out a questionable door jam below the old dancefloor that’s been cemented over.
“That is a door. So what is behind there? So there’s a room in there that got walled in for some reason,” he said.
What we do know is that, sometime after the raid, the tawdry Verdugo Lodge and the surrounding land were purchased and then renamed Mountain Oaks by the Kadletzes — an entrepreneurial family who had run everything from a Turkish bath to a mini golf course. Over the next few decades, the family would rent the place out to local groups for recreational retreats.
The future of Mountain Oaks
After they sold it in the ‘60s, Lawler said Mountain Oaks faced a “nightmare” of development threats. Over the years, some of the subdivided "tent lots" had been combined and sold off, Lawler said. A dozen private homes now stand on these pieces of land, next to the ruins of the Verdugo Lodge.
A map showing the Mountain Oaks public property acquired by The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA).
Paul Edelman, MRCA's director of natural resources and planning, said his group will continue to manage the land, doing things like brush clearance, trash pickup and sign maintenance. And he said there are no current plans to remove the ruins or make any major changes to the property.
“If somebody comes up with a grand idea where they can find some funding for us to do something to enhance it, we’re always open to it,” Edelman said.
The purchase was good news for local preservationist Joanna Linkchorst.
“I grew up directly up the hill. But I always saw the sign that said ‘private property’ and didn’t really think about it until several years ago when I finally asked Mike. And he said, ‘Oh yeah, we got a resort speakeasy down the street,’” Linkchorst said standing among the oaks and overgrowth.
“There’s almost like these little ghosts in your head as you imagine what it was like when there was a beautiful wood floor and there was a second floor that people came jumping out of,” Linkchorst said.
Robert Garrova
explores the weird and secret bits of SoCal that would excite even the most jaded Angelenos. He also covers mental health.
Published May 3, 2026 5:00 AM
A screen capture of one of Chieh's 3D rendering of the Colorado Room inside the fictional Overlook Hotel
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Topline:
A local architect who hails from South Pasadena has meticulously crafted a 3D model of the iconic and fictional Overlook Hotel made famous in the Stanley Kubrick film, The Shining.
The background: At his day job, architect Anthony Chieh mainly works on residential and boutique commercial spaces. But over the course of five months, he spent his nights recreating a virtual replica of the Overlook Hotel.
What’s next? Chieh says he’s thinking about giving the spaceship from “2001: A Space Odyssey" the virtual treatment next. Or maybe turning to a local non-fictional space, like the Stahl House.
Now, let’s check in to the Overlook Hotel.
That’s the fictional place Stanley Kubrick brought to life in his 1980 film The Shining, loosely based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name.
A local architect who hails from South Pasadena meticulously crafted a 3D model of the iconic space so Shining fans everywhere never have to check out.
‘I just couldn’t stop’
At his day job, architect Anthony Chieh mainly works on residential and boutique commercial spaces. But over the course of five months, he spent his nights meticulously recreating a virtual replica of the Overlook Hotel from the film that first scared him when he was 12.
Of course he started with the deeply haunted Room 237. That’s where Jack Torrance, played by Jack Nicholson, has a terrifying encounter with a ghostly woman.
Chieh's 3D rendering of Room 237
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Anthony Chieh
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“But once I started, I just couldn’t stop,” Chieh told LAist.
“I ended up modeling the Colorado Lounge, and then after that I was thinking maybe I should make the lobby and then arriving to the Gold Room, and then Grady’s bathroom.”
“It’s like a rabbit hole,” he said.
Experience the virtual Overlook Hotel You can download Chieh's digital model of the Overlook Hotel by clicking the link in the comments section of his YouTube essay on the subject.
Users who download Chieh’s free 3D model can fly through all of those spaces, immersed in atmospheric sounds and music from the film.
“It’s interesting to dive into these kind of fictional environments and try to make sense of it,” Chieh said. “And the hope is people will get a different perspective once they’re in there.”
Kubrick’s take on the Overlook was famously inspired by real hotels like the Timberline Lodge in Oregon and the Ahwahnee in Yosemite. But the interiors you see in the film were created on sound stages in England.
“Real architecture, physical buildings, are built for people to live. And for movies, these are more meant to express the emotional aspect of things. It’s a psychological construct,” Chieh said.
In a recently published video essay on YouTube, Chieh dives deep into those psychological constructs and how, as he puts it, “Kubrick designed the Overlook Hotel not as a backdrop, but as the film's true villain.”
How spaces scare
Chieh said during the monthslong process he was reminded of the power of architecture and design in the real world too – whether it’s an uncomfortably repetitive carpet design or a claustrophobic hallway.
“A physical construct can affect your emotion,” Chieh said.
“You can use it in a way to make people feel comfortable and you can also use it in a way to create fear.”
Chieh's 3D rendering of the Torrance's apartment in 'The Shining'
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What’s next for this architect moonlighting as a 3D modeler?
Chieh says he’s thinking about giving the spaceship from “2001: A Space Odyssey" the virtual treatment next. Or maybe turning to a local non-fictional space, like the Stahl House.
That is, of course, if he can ever escape the Overlook.
